SHUSHI (Armenian Weekly)— American food icon Anthony Bourdain posted a picture to his social media account on Tuesday night of his cameraman, Jerry Risius, boarding a Russian helicopter, likely to make the journey from Armenia to Artsakh, where he has been featured in pictures across social media.
Bourdain's Instagram post en route to Artsakh

Bourdain’s Instagram post en route to Artsakh

According to a report by ANI Armenian Research Center editor Tatul Hakobyan, Bourdain is traveling with a film crew to produce a segment on the region for his CNN television show “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.” In Shushi, Artsakh, an interview and lunch were held at the Jdrduz canyon, where Bourdain “enjoyed a spread of ‘jingalov hats,’ ‘shila,’ ‘khorovatz,’ homemade Armenian yogurt, and mulberry and cornelian cherry vodka.”
Anthony Bourdain (left) and ANI Armenian Research Center editor Tatul Hakobyan (Photo: ANI Armenian Research Center)

A short video also appeared two days prior on the social media feed of local nonprofit ONEArmenia, where Bourdain is featured with Armenian comedy duo and stars of the television show Armcomedy, Narek Margaryan and Sergey Sargsyan, touting the name “Spyurk Report.”
Described by The New Yorker as a “swaggering chef,” Bourdain has built an empire around food, which started with his New York Times best-selling book Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly (2000). Today, he is well-known as a TV personality, and has starred in shows on Food Network and his Travel Channel show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” which saw Bourdain travel to unexpected locations, indulging in region’s the local culinary traditions.

In “Parts Unknown,” Bourdain travels the world uncovering lesser known places and exploring cultures and cuisine. The show has won five Emmy Awards, as well as a 2013 Peabody Award.

We were able to be in Armenia and Artsakh in 2006 for several months~it was a heart filling wonderful time for us~I think it will never come again```

When we were at the white Church at Shushi~there was still a turret of a tank and a damaged truck just off to the right~

The Russians could fix~or could have fixed the mess~at least concerning Artsakh~it was the bastard Stalin that handed over our land to the Turks in what is now called azerbaijan~they, Russia, should have corrected that as the Soviet fell apart~or now as they have in Crimea that was given over to Ukraine by Khrushchev in 1954~Artsakh had to be freed by force as Crimea was```

BAKU—Azerbaijan has decided to blacklist Anthony Bourdain, the prolific food icon who last week visited Armenia and Artsakh to tape segments for his Emmy-award winning show “Parts Unknown” that airs on CNN.

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hikmat Hajiyev made the announcement on Tuesday

The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s latest victim? None other than American food and television icon Anthony Bourdain, who was recently in Armenia and Artsakh to produce a segment on the region for his CNN television show, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.”

Speaking to Russia’s RIA Novosti, Hajiyev confirmed that Bourdain would be put on the now-infamous (and ever-growing) Azerbaijani “blacklist” for “illegally visiting the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.”

In 2013, Hajiyev’s Foreign Ministry issued a list, which disclosed the names of more than 300 individuals from more than 40 countries, who had visited the Republic of Artsakh “without Baku’s permission.”

They were listed as “persona non grata”—unacceptable and unwelcome in Azerbaijan. Today, that list—published right on Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry’s website—has ballooned to nearly 700.

Parliamentarians, scientists, academics, artists, journalists, entertainers (the list goes on)—all of them accused of undermining “the national sovereignty and territorial unity” of Azerbaijan.

Late last week, Hajiyev tried something new and personally attacked—and threatened—Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) Executive Director Aram Hamparian in a series of tweets, accusing him of being a terrorist, racist, and a “mafia boss.”

“The Foreign Affairs [Ministry] is ‘punching down’ when it punches a lobby,” Hamparian said about Hajiyev’s latest move.

And it’s true, Mr. Hajiyev. The attack on Hamparian and the Armenian lobby is a tactical mistake on your part. By doing so, you only build up the ANCA, and your fallacious tweets only become a PR tool for the Armenian lobby.

People are not as stupid or ignorant as you may think. It doesn’t really take that much research to see how drastically your government’s record on freedom of _expression_, assembly, and association has continued to deteriorate over the years.

The illegal visit of the head of Mexico-Armenia Friendship Group, Blanca Margarita Cuata Dominguez, a member of that group Maria Cristina Teresa Garcia Bravo and another person accompanying them to Azerbaijani lands occupied by Armenia is under investigation, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev said.

Hajiyev noted that Azerbaijan's embassy in Mexico has already been given appropriate instructions on the matter, APA reported.

American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain and Armenian historian Tatul Hakobyan enjoy a meal near Shusha, Nagorno Karabakh. Bourdain was in the area filming an episode of his television show. (photo: ANI Armenian Research Center)

American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain has visited Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh, to the delight of Armenians and the chagrin of Baku.

Bourdain visited the region last week, filming an episode of his CNN show Parts Unknown, in which he explores the exotic food cultures of various far-flung countries.

He was photographed enjoying an al fresco lunch near Shusha, in Karabakh. And he hobnobbed with several Armenian celebrities. His host in Shusha was well known historian Tatul Hakobyan. In Yerevan he met Narek Margaryan and Sergey Sargsyan, the duo behind the TV show ArmComedy. And on twitter, Bourdain thanked Serj Tankian, the Armenian-American leader of the rock group System of a Down, for arranging the visit: "Thanks @serjtankian for finally getting me to Armenia and making it awesome."

Bourdain also posted an instagram photo of an Mi-8 helicopter, apparently his transportation in and out of Karabakh, which is inaccessible to commercial air travel.

Bourdain's social media posts got hundreds of enthusiastic responses from Armenians, but elicited the ire of Baku. Karabakh is de jure part of Azerbaijan but has been under the de facto control of Armenian forces since a war between the two sides ended in 1994.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev tweeted a number of responses to Bourdain, including: "@cnni to present ethnically cleansed land of #Azerbaijan by #Armenia as travel show shameful and #immoral. It must be stopped!" and "@cnni culinary show must be kept away from pol. propaganda as you try by this film propagate illegal regime in seized lands of #Azerbaijan."

Bourdain didn't respond to any of Hajiyev's tweets, and it's unknown what his position on Karabakh's status is.

Hajiyev later told the APA news agency that the ministry was looking into the affair and that "a decision will be made after the investigation."

Bourdain would thus seem to be headed for Azerbaijan's black list of foreigners who have visited Karabakh without Azerbaijani permission, whom Azerbaijan considers to have illegally crossed its borders.

If so, that would seem to rule out a future visit to Azerbaijan to try that country's cuisine; members of the Karabakh black list are forbidden entry to Azerbaijan.

That, then, would mean Bourdain couldn't complete the Caucasus trifecta. He visited Georgia in 2015, though the show that resulted rubbed many Georgians the wrong way for being "weird, glib and uninformative." The Armenia/Karabakh episode is reportedly scheduled to run in 2018.

PanARMENIAN.Net - CNN will air the episode of its original series “Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown” shot in Armenia on May 20, the TV news channel said on Monday, April 9.

Bourdain takes a wide-angle look at the culture and history of this country, with musician of Armenian descent Serj Tankian (System of a Down), and historian/Armenian resident Richard Giragosian as his guides.

Breaking bread with Tankian at a restaurant in downtown Yerevan, during dinners with locals, the host explores the native and Diaspora Armenian populations’ survival and achievements against the odds.

Described by The New Yorker as a “swaggering chef,” Bourdain has built an empire around food, which started with his New York Times best-selling book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly” (2000). Today, he is well-known as a TV personality and has starred in shows on Food Network and his Travel Channel show, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” which has Bourdain traveling to unexpected locations and indulging in those regions’ local culinary traditions.

When in Armenia, Bourdain posted a picture to his social media account of his cameraman, Jerry Risius, boarding a Russian helicopter, likely to make a journey to Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), where he has been featured in pictures across social media.

Following that, he joined a plethora of other celebrities, diplomats and ordinary citizens that have been banned from Azerbaijan for visiting Karabakh.

PanARMENIAN.Net - On this week's episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown, Anthony Bourdain will be discovering the Armenia people outside of the country rarely see on Sunday, May 20.

Bourdain takes a wide-angle look at the culture and history of this country, with musician of Armenian descent Serj Tankian (System of a Down), and historian/Armenian resident Richard Giragosian as his guides.

Breaking bread with Tankian at a restaurant in downtown Yerevan, during dinners with locals, the host explores the native and Diaspora Armenian populations’ survival and achievements against the odds.

Described by The New Yorker as a “swaggering chef,” Bourdain has built an empire around food, which started with his New York Times best-selling book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly” (2000). Today, he is well-known as a TV personality and has starred in shows on Food Network and his Travel Channel show, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations,” which has Bourdain traveling to unexpected locations and indulging in those regions’ local culinary traditions.

When in Armenia, Bourdain posted a picture to his social media account of his cameraman, Jerry Risius, boarding a Russian helicopter, likely to make a journey to Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh), where he has been featured in pictures across social media.

Following that, he joined a plethora of other celebrities, diplomats and ordinary citizens that have been banned from Azerbaijan for visiting Karabakh.

On this week’s episode of Parts Unknown, former chef and current TV host Anthony Bourdain traveled to Armenia with Armenian-American musician Serj Tankian, of System of a Down fame, as well as historian Richard Giragosian, a resident of the country.

During the episode, Bourdain dined at the highly regarded restaurant and learns about the Armenian people’s achievements against tough odds throughout history.

PARIS — American TV celebrity and food writer Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room Friday in France while working on his CNN series on culinary traditions around the world. He was 61.

CNN confirmed the death, saying that Bourdain was found unresponsive Friday morning by friend and chef Eric Ripert in the French city of Strasbourg. It called his death a suicide.

Bourdain achieved celebrity status after the publication in 2000 of his bestselling book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.” The book created a sensation by combining frank details of his life and career with behind-the-scenes observations on the culinary industry. It was a rare crossover — a book intended for professional cooks that had enormous mass appeal.

Bourdain went on to achieve widespread fame thanks to his CNN series “Parts Unknown” — and was filming an upcoming segment for the program when he was found dead, according to CNN.

PARIS — American TV celebrity and food writer Anthony Bourdain was found dead in his hotel room Friday in France while working on his CNN series on culinary traditions around the world. He was 61.

CNN confirmed the death, saying that Bourdain was found unresponsive Friday morning by friend and chef Eric Ripert in the French city of Strasbourg. It called his death a suicide.

Bourdain achieved celebrity status after the publication in 2000 of his bestselling book “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.” The book created a sensation by combining frank details of his life and career with behind-the-scenes observations on the culinary industry. It was a rare crossover — a book intended for professional cooks that had enormous mass appeal.

Bourdain went on to achieve widespread fame thanks to his CNN series “Parts Unknown” — and was filming an upcoming segment for the program when he was found dead, according to CNN.

CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker sent a note to staff saying the circumstances of the death are still unclear but that “we do know that Tony took his own life.”

“Tony was an exceptional talent. A storyteller. A gifted writer. A world traveller. An adventurer. He brought something to CNN that no one else had ever brought before,” Zucker said in the letter. “This is a very, very sad day.”

Strasbourg police, emergency services and regional authorities did not immediately have information about the death. Bourdain’s assistant Laurie Woolever would not comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Celebrity Chefs, fans and U.S. President Donald Trump were among those stunned and saddened by the news.

“I want to extend to his family my heartfelt condolences,” Trump said.

Jamie Oliver wrote on Instagram that Bourdain “really broke the mould … he leaves chefs and fans around the world with a massive foodie hole that simply can’t be replaced.” Chef Yotam Ottolenghi tweeted “Shocking and sad!” while Nigella Lawson tweeted she was “Heartbroken.”

“Bourdain’s exceptional writing made this one formerly picky, fearful eater very brave and want to try everything and I’ll always be grateful for him and the worlds he opened,” tweeted Lin-Manuel Miranda.

U.S. television personalities Megyn Kelly and Stacy London offered condolences and urged those who needed help to contact suicide prevention hotlines.

Bourdain’s death came three days after fashion designer Kate Spade committed suicide in her Park Avenue apartment in New York. Spade’s husband and business partner said the 55-year-old business mogul had suffered from depression and anxiety for many years.

Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” seemed like an odd choice for CNN when it started in 2013 — part travelogue, part history lesson, part love letter to exotic foods. Each trip was an adventure. There had been nothing quite like it on the staid news network, and it became an immediate hit.

He mixed a coarseness and whimsical sense of adventurousness, true to the rock ’n’ roll music he loved.

“We are constantly asking ourselves, first and foremost, what is the most (messed) up thing we can do next week?” he said in a 2014 interview with the AP.

Besides showcasing food, a “Parts Unknown” trip to Japan in the series’ first season included an odd show with robots and scantily clad women, a visit with a death metal band and a meal shared with a woman involved in the city’s sadomasochistic community.

In 2016, he sat down for some bun cha in Hanoi, Vietnam, with President Barack Obama.

Bourdain was reluctant to analyze why his series succeeded.

“If you think about who the audience is and what their expectations might be, I think that’s the road to badness and mediocrity,” he told the AP. “You go out there and show the best story you can as best you can. If it’s interesting to you, hopefully it’s interesting to others. If you don’t make television like that, it’s pandering.”

The American chef, author and television personality was born in New York City and was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. He had written that his love of food began as a youth while on a family vacation in France, when he ate his first oyster.

Bourdain said his youth was punctuated by drug use and he dropped out of Vassar College after two years.

Working in restaurants led him to the Culinary Institute of America, where he graduated in 1978, and began working in kitchens in New York City. He became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in 1998.

In the preface to the latest edition “Kitchen Confidential,” Bourdain wrote of his shock at the success of his book, which he wrote by getting up at 5 a.m. to steal a couple of hours at the computer before appearing at the saute station for lunch.

He said he never intended to write an expose or to “rip the lid off the restaurant business.” He said he liked the restaurant business the way it was.

“What I set out to do was write a book that my fellow cooks would find entertaining and true,” he said. “I wanted it to sound like me talking at say … ten o’clock on a Saturday night, after a busy dinner rush, me and a few cooks hanging around in the kitchen, knocking back a few beers and talking.”

Bourdain said he really had no idea that anyone outside the world of chefs would even pay attention to his comments.

“The new celebrity chef culture is a remarkable and admittedly annoying phenomenon. While it’s been nothing but good for business — and for me personally — many of us in the life can’t help snickering about it,” he wrote. “Of all the professions, after all, few people are less suited to be suddenly thrown into the public eye than chefs.”

Bourdain’s introduction to “Kitchen Confidential: Insider’s Edition” was scrawled in his own hand in block letters — offering the sense of making it personal right away.

He wrote of the difficulty of long hours, hard work and poor pay, and said that one of the side benefits of his success was the ability to pay the rent. Yet there was more than a sense of wistfulness about times gone by.

CNN is currently airing the 11th season of “Parts Unknown,” and Bourdain was in France shooting an episode for the 12th season. CNN said it has not made a decision yet on whether it will proceed with the current season

Bourdain was twice divorced and has a daughter from his second marriage. Funeral arrangements were not immediately available.

CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker sent a note to staff saying the circumstances of the death are still unclear but that “we do know that Tony took his own life.”

“Tony was an exceptional talent. A storyteller. A gifted writer. A world traveller. An adventurer. He brought something to CNN that no one else had ever brought before,” Zucker said in the letter. “This is a very, very sad day.”

Strasbourg police, emergency services and regional authorities did not immediately have information about the death. Bourdain’s assistant Laurie Woolever would not comment when reached by The Associated Press.

Celebrity Chefs, fans and U.S. President Donald Trump were among those stunned and saddened by the news.